AvantCard - MBNA

niallo27 · 02-04-2013 12:59pm

madanall wrote: »

Avantcard seem to be cutting off all means of communication. When I try to ring them, the phone just cuts off immediately. I think there is more to this than meets the eye to be honest. Absolute shambles of a company.

I rang them there and was waiting about 5 mins. They told me I need a card to register my new account. I told them I didn't have a care in 3 years. They told me there is nothing I can do. I need an expiry date to register.

ainiseoir · 02-04-2013 1:01pm

quenching wrote: »

Can't see any mention so far, but does anyone know if direct debits set up for payment to MBNA will continue to work with AvantCard? Can't find anything on their website about it and their phone lines still aren't working.

Maybe things have moved on a bit, but confusion still reigns!
i managed to register last week, after a few days they wouldn't recognise my details, blocked due too many attempts, manage to get in by the "back door' via the forgotten details path. Still that way.haven't the time to hold the phone forever.
Got my statement this am, seems OK, amazing that they can't show it on line, but the 16 digit account number, presumably the number which will be on the AvantCard, is totally different to the MBNA card which is valid until Dec 2014.
Anyone shed any light on that matter?
I hope my CC from an Irish bank comes soon......I'm wary of using this one.

ainiseoir · 02-04-2013 2:04pm

madanall wrote: »

Avantcard seem to be cutting off all means of communication. When I try to ring them, the phone just cuts off immediately. I think there is more to this than meets the eye to be honest. Absolute shambles of a company.

I would reckon that all the discontent that has built up over the two public holiday weekend has become a tsunami which overwhelmed them this am,
You can only come up with so many yarns before the easy option, i.e.,cutting all lines of communication becomes the logical response!

Paulw · 02-04-2013 2:52pm

I just rang them now. Took less than 5 min to get through to someone. I just notified them that I was going on holidays to the US soon, and they have now marked that on my account.

Hopefully I won't have any issues when away now.

Thraxen · 02-04-2013 6:11pm

Multiple cards. Multiple accounts.
No card? No account.

So yeah we have 4 cards with MBNA and I needed to register 3 separate accounts to get my cards working. Adding a card does NOT work.
Now I have one card that I was asked to cancel because I took out a loan with MBNA. So I no longer have the card with the CV2 code... this means no online account. I said I have a disability and cannot get out to pay the cards. I do it all online and wanted to keep doing it that way. I was told tough luck. I now do bank transfers but I cannot tell how much to pay and when unless I call.
Btw you can use the same email!!

ainiseoir · 02-04-2013 7:08pm

Thraxen wrote: »

Multiple cards. Multiple accounts.
No card? No account.

So yeah we have 4 cards with MBNA and I needed to register 3 separate accounts to get my cards working. Adding a card does NOT work.
Now I have one card that I was asked to cancel because I took out a loan with MBNA. So I no longer have the card with the CV2 code... this means no online account. I said I have a disability and cannot get out to pay the cards. I do it all online and wanted to keep doing it that way. I was told tough luck. I now do bank transfers but I cannot tell how much to pay and when unless I call.
Btw you can use the same email!!

Jeez!!
Just when you think you've heard everything.
It seems to me that you need to get a sympathetic ear locally and ditch them.
I presume the loan you mentioned could be a problem.

foodaholic · 02-04-2013 8:38pm

I got my first avantcard statement and there is a Finance charge of Eur166.41 on it - anyone else have this ? Cant get through to query it

ainiseoir · 02-04-2013 10:26pm

foodaholic wrote: »

I got my first avantcard statement and there is a Finance charge of Eur166.41 on it - anyone else have this ? Cant get through to query it

Definition: The finance charge is an interest fee charged on revolving credit accounts. Finance charges are calculated using the APR and the balance. Creditors have different methods of calculating finance charges. The most commonly used method is the average daily balance method which applies the APR to an average of your balance each day during the billing cycle. Learn Six Ways Finance Charges Are Calculated.
The higher your interest rate and balance on your credit card, the higher your finance charge will be. Finance charges are a convenience cost and can be avoided by paying your balance in full before the grace period ends. If you have disputed billing errors, you don't have to pay a finance charge on the disputed amount while it is being investigated. Your credit card agreement may include a minimum finance charge that's charged anytime your balance is subject to a finance charge.

You may have different finance charges, if you have different types of balances on your credit card. For example, you could be billed for a finance charge on purchases and a finance charge on cash advances separately. This is because these balances often have different interest rates and grace periods.

brightkane · 03-04-2013 11:20am

I called again today as my statement wasn't received. I was told that it might not have even been posted yet, (should have been sent on 23rd) I was told I might have it Friday or Monday. I enquired about online statements. no date as of yet for them.
I asked was my due date to be extended from the 16th and was told no.

Need a statement. will be paying it and closing my account.

dav3 · 03-04-2013 1:12pm

I laugh every time I log into my account, the outstanding balance was a little higher than it should be to begin with, but now it keeps rising with each log in. Without any statements it's very difficult to keep track of what is going where.

It's an example of a company trying to do everything on the cheap, from the switchover to the customer service.

Just a quick question on the 0818 number, does Avantcard make any money from these calls?

ainiseoir · 03-04-2013 2:40pm

dav3 wrote: »

I laugh every time I log into my account, the outstanding balance was a little higher than it should be to begin with, but now it keeps rising with each log in. Without any statements it's very difficult to keep track of what is going where.

It's an example of a company trying to do everything on the cheap, from the switchover to the customer service.

Just a quick question on the 0818 number, does Avantcard make any money from these calls?

I notice that BoI use that code as well.
No doubt they're all at it.

Solair · 03-04-2013 2:56pm

I've got my online banking working but there's nothing available other than debit card payment and balance.

I really don't like not being able to monitor transactions as I am always keen to check for fraudulent transactions if I use my card online.

I'm starting to wonder if they're actually just going to wind the operation down ? Are they just some kind of debt management outfit ? I've never heard of them before now.

They keep hanging up the phone when I call them which is making me think there's a lot more to this than just IT problems.

I don't trust financial institutions at the best of times but this really takes the biscuit!

listermint · 03-04-2013 3:03pm

Yes the whole think smells a bit.

Has there been any statement from the ombudsman on it ?

What about paying for a service that you are not receiving ?

Can they just wind it up and leave you to pay the debts down with no service?

Solair · 03-04-2013 3:06pm

listermint wrote: »

Yes the whole think smells a bit.

Has there been any statement from the ombudsman on it ?

What about paying for a service that you are not receiving ?

Can they just wind it up and leave you to pay the debts down with no service?

That's exactly what Halifax did to Irish credit card customers. They were just basically given a few months to either transfer to another provider, pay down the card or I think in some cases it may have been converted into a term loan of some sort.

That's what has me worried.
MBNA stopped issuing new credit card accounts in Ireland quite a long while before the sale and were just managing the existing cards.

I'll be pleasantly relieved if I see this crowd actually sorting themselves out and selling new cards, but for now they are giving me lots of cause to be quite sceptical.

I might hang onto the card, but I will be making sure I don't have any balance on it.

I only really use it to provide a buffer between my current account and the internet. I don't like using Visa Debit online as fraud could clean out your current account. Where as with a credit card it's the bank's money, so they've more incentive to go after it

listermint · 03-04-2013 3:13pm

Solair wrote: »

That's exactly what Halifax did to Irish credit card customers. They were just basically given a few months to either transfer to another provider, pay down the card or I think in some cases it may have been converted into a term loan of some sort.

That's what has me worried.
MBNA stopped issuing new credit card accounts in Ireland quite a long while before the sale and were just managing the existing cards.

I'll be pleasantly relieved if I see this crowd actually sorting themselves out and selling new cards, but for now they are giving me lots of cause to be quite sceptical.

I might hang onto the card, but I will be making sure I don't have any balance on it.

I only really use it to provide a buffer between my current account and the internet. I don't like using Visa Debit online as fraud could clean out your current account. Where as with a credit card it's the bank's money, so they've more incentive to go after it

Oh yeah never thought about that, i had a halifax one but the balance was always zero.

V1llianous · 03-04-2013 3:26pm

Solair wrote: »

That's exactly what Halifax did to Irish credit card customers. They were just basically given a few months to either transfer to another provider, pay down the card or I think in some cases it may have been converted into a term loan of some sort.

That's what has me worried.
MBNA stopped issuing new credit card accounts in Ireland quite a long while before the sale and were just managing the existing cards.

I'll be pleasantly relieved if I see this crowd actually sorting themselves out and selling new cards, but for now they are giving me lots of cause to be quite sceptical.

I might hang onto the card, but I will be making sure I don't have any balance on it.

I only really use it to provide a buffer between my current account and the internet. I don't like using Visa Debit online as fraud could clean out your current account. Where as with a credit card it's the bank's money, so they've more incentive to go after it

I heard from someone I know who works at MABS that MBNA sold the business to AvantCard as a load of bad debt. I wouldn't expect them to be recruiting new business to be honest.

Solair · 03-04-2013 3:30pm

V1llianous wrote: »

I heard from someone I know who works at MABS that MBNA sold the business to AvantCard as a load of bad debt. I wouldn't expect them to be recruiting new business to be honest.

Well, there's business to be done in the market and money to be made from it.
All they need to do is ensure they do proper credit checks and they can make a decent profit.

When you look at the % of mortgage arrears, you can pretty much extrapolate that there are probably as bad / worse in terms of unsecured loans, cards etc as a legacy of the bubble.

I mean, people tend to pay their mortgage before they pay anything else too.

It's likely that that was factored into the purchase price that this crowd paid for MBNA's customer base, so they could actually be in a reasonably OK position when you think about it (compared to the Irish banks).

km79 · 03-04-2013 3:47pm

I am definitely applying for permanent TSB card and transferring this balance. PTSB application is awkward tho as it can only be done in branch and nearest branch is 40km away and does not open Saturdays

They also don't have app form online to print off . In fact in their application criteria there is no mention of a form at all!!! Has anyone applied recently ?

rainbowtrout · 03-04-2013 5:13pm

I'm having problems too. I managed to get through the registration process about 2 weeks ago, although I had the same problem choosing a password as was mentioned earlier on in the thread, only that I went back to the thread and spotted that the password needed at least 1 uppercase letter, not that it says it on the registration screen. Picked memorable word and was able to login and see balance etc.

Tried to login the other night and it took about 5 goes to get to the memorable word stage. It then kept refusing the characters from my word.

When I tried logging on the following day I had only put in my username and password once (and correctly) and it told me I had exceeded the number of tries and I'm now blocked from trying again. The only way to sort it is to ring the customer service number.

When I rang that, I was able to check my balance and could hear recent transactions, so basically I'm saying to hell with this I'm not in arrears, am going to pay off the balance on the card this month (which was the intention anyway), close the account and go with another provider. I know a lot of people have had a lot of hassle with MBNA over the years, but I never had any hassle with them either on the phone, with the card or the website, but this takeover is a shambles and if they are trying to get rid of customers and wind up the business by considering it a bad debt purchase they are doing a fantastic job.

Carbon125 · 03-04-2013 5:17pm

For switchers: The National Consumer Agency has a comparison table of Irish credit cards: http://compare.nca.ie/CreditCard

Carbon125 · 03-04-2013 5:23pm

rainbowtrout wrote: »

Tried to login the other night and it took about 5 goes to get to the memorable word stage. It then kept refusing the characters from my word.

Similar here - the "memorable word" was refused. Eventually, on a hunch, I put the requested letters in in lowercase only. Login then worked!

The "memorable word" I had originally chosen was NOT all lowercase.

rainbowtrout · 03-04-2013 5:24pm

Carbon125 wrote: »

Similar here - the "memorable word" was refused. Eventually, on a hunch, I put the requested letters in in lowercase only. Login then worked!

The "memorable word" I had originally chosen was NOT all lowercase.

Same here. Tried all lowercase and then tried first letter uppercase as those are the only two combinations I would have used. Neither worked. MBNA card be gone!

Solair · 03-04-2013 6:25pm

I've never had any issue with MBNA, the card always just worked and they were great on the phone to deal with. Their IT also seemed rock solid, even if the web banking looked a bit primitive it always worked!

This new lot seem to have difficulty even picking up the telephone !!

Rael · 03-04-2013 11:41pm

Paid off the card in full this morning at the post office. Once the balance hits zero I'm cancelling the account.

A colleague in work raised an interesting point yesterday. She said maybe MBNA was bought as part of a wider transaction with the intention of winding it down.

As far as I know it was part of a deal to sell MBNA / Bank of America's Spanish business, so maybe that's why they have it and are trying to eventually write the Irish operation off as theorised in a couple of the above posts.

picturehangup · 04-04-2013 12:54am

I do not trust this company. There is definitely something rotten in the State of Denmark.

I am going to close my balance, and going back to BOI.

picturehangup

Solair · 04-04-2013 11:16am

I asked them for a DD mandate (wanted to change my DD to another bank - I've 2 accounts)

Anyway, a handwritten envelope and the mandate looks like it was printed out on a domestic printer and designed in Word...

Stone Deaf 4evr · 04-04-2013 5:04pm

my online payment went through anyway, but their fantastic online service says that i still owe the minimum payment.

Time to approach the credit union to get a small loan to clear off my balance I think.

Hal1 · 04-04-2013 5:25pm

My bank ebs says it will be may or june before I can make a payment to AC. Why? I've no clue. So now I have to pay the balance in the Post office and close my account. I'm proper done with this shower of ***** now.

ainiseoir · 04-04-2013 5:59pm

Hal1 wrote: »

My bank ebs says it will be may or june before I can make a payment to AC. Why? I've no clue. So now I have to pay the balance in the Post office and close my account. I'm proper done with this shower of ***** now.

Hasten slowly.
It might be best to get yourself another CC elsewhere before pulling the plug on the hombres.

Solair · 04-04-2013 7:24pm

I'd say if you have a credit card at the moment, hang onto it and just pay off the balance.

In this market it might be the last credit card you ever get! The banks are uber-conservative about who they'll lend to nowadays.

AvantCard - MBNA

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